The Idoma People of Nigeria has distanced themselves from the inclusion of Idoma territory in the map of Biafra by the Nnamdi Kanu-led Independent People of Biafra.
The Idoma National Youth Forum for Justice said the inclusion of Benue South in the map of the defunct Biafra was a deliberate attempt by the agitators to pitch the Idoma people against the Nigerian government.
IPOB had recently claimed that Biafra spans from Itsekiriland on the western boundary with Oduduwa to Bakassi on the eastern boundary with the Cameroons, and also stretches from Idoma and Igala land on the northern boundary with Northern Nigeria to the Bight of Biafra which is South of the island of Bonny.
In a 5-point communiqué issued in Otukpo at the end of a meeting held by the Idoma youth, they dissociated the Benue-South zone from the “so-called Biafra.”
The communiqué signed by Emmanuel Omonu, president of the youth arm of Idoma national apex association said, “We will not allow any inch of our land to be part of the ill-thought-out enterprise call Biafra.
He said, “We ask the IPOB and other secessionist groups to henceforth a halt to stop referring to Idoma community as part of Biafra as it touches on the collective sensibilities of our people and could provoke ethnic crisis.
“We are surprise that the likes of Kanu and his other Bifara supporters have not learnt their lesson after returning to Nigeria following the fall of Biafra in January 15, 1970 with tales of woes and horrors.
“The Idomas and other ethnic groups who have been carved into the maps being circulated by Nnamdi Kanu and his groups, we shall not tolerate any provocation from this group of persons as law abiding citizens of Nigeria and hereby wish to draw attention of the Federal Government and the International community to this fraud of a Biafra Republic to extort and criminalize our people.
“Our sons have held very high positions in Nigeria just like the Igbos and we see no reason for any secession anywhere in Nigeria, the right thing for all to do is to task our leaders in authority to judiciously apply the people's resources for the overall benefit of all whilst subscribing to the current administration's war against corruption.
Omonu said Kanu, who recently donned the Idoma traditional attire to a court hearing in Abuja was only using Biafra to enrich himself and family.
The group called on Benue South, political leaders and traditional rulers to “speak out now as their silence is becoming eloquent.”
“We want to make it empathetically clear that Idoma land was never and can never be part of the fraud call Biafra. We believe in one Nigeria and will do all within our power to protect the unity of Nigeria. Biafra died in 1970 and has gone into history. They should desist from dragging our name into their fraudulent business,” the group added.
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